Respect: The attack on Adrian Neville’s core belief

In what had become the norm for their routine, Adrian Neville and Corey Graves spent the majority of the afternoon doing their own thing at Full Sail University before reconvening to discuss their strategy for the evening ahead. Though everything seemed status quo, the proverbial elephant in the room was apparent. This was the night that Neville and Graves would invoke their rematch clause to challenge The Ascension for the NXT Tag Team Championship. If the former champions regained the titles, wrongs would be made right. However, if they failed, what would the next chapter entail?

The NXT Universe wouldn’t have to wait long for an answer to that question. After coming up short against The Ascension, Graves blindsided his tag team partner, leaving him laid out in the ring. Clearly, the partnership is over, but for Neville, it’s the beginning of a road paved with feelings of frustration, anger and betrayal, and it all centers around the one core belief he believes has been violated.

“It’s a complete lack of respect to hit a man when he’s down,” Neville told WWE.com. “If Graves didn’t want to be my partner anymore, all he had to do was tell me to my face.”

Understandably, Adrian Neville is upset over the incident. But the manner in which it happened appears to have triggered something that greatly incenses the now-former two-time NXT Tag Team Champion.

“I despise cowardly, spineless people,” he said. “Growing up, I was bullied. I was always the little guy on the playground, and the bigger lads would torment me. As I grew, I would see this happen to other lads younger or smaller than me, and I’d make it a point to look out for them. Nothing infuriates me more than seeing someone take advantage of the weak or innocent.”